


In This Sweet Surrender

by agentsimmons



Series: The Many Adventures of Bear Banner-Stark [6]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (technically but not smutty), Adorable Bruce Banner, Adorable Tony Stark, Domestic Bliss, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Wedding, Romantic Fluff, Science Husbands, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Night, Weddings, this is shmoop so so so so much shmoop okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-21 05:50:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4817462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	In This Sweet Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to dedicate this one to **[ikilledabuginthewall](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ikilledabuginthewall/pseuds/ikilledabuginthewall)** for all of the wonderful comments and encouragement over the past week as I've worked hard to get the series to this point :)

Tony's eyes fluttered open and a smile immediately bloomed across his face. He thought he would have gotten used to the feeling of waking up to Bruce lying close, hearing the shallow in and out of his breathing or relishing in the warmth of his skin when they were still somewhat entangled like they were at this moment, and yet at the same time he was certain that he never would be able to get used to it.

How could he when waking up to him meant the man he loved was still there? How could he when the weary lines of Bruce's face were often banished by his state of rest? How could he when he had enough sense to know that the peace the physicist finally had in these unguarded moments was to a great extent his own doing, the same way he knew his own more peaceful nights were Bruce's doing?

He studied the face lying so close to his own, bathed in a soft glow from the light in Tony's naked chest. Bruce never asked him to cover it, never minded, even cherished the little circle of light like it was a forbidden treasure he alone had been somehow worthy enough to see, touch, hold onto and never let go.

Tony resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, reacquaint himself with every inch and every line and every strand of hair, lest it wake him. Waking him now would be a crime. Bruce looked as content as Tony felt and even had a soft smile on his face. Tony wanted to trace that smile tenderly with his fingers, commit it to memory again and again just to be sure he could never forget it.

Instead, he lay there with his eyes fixed on him like Bruce was the forbidden treasure that Tony could never understand how he had been worthy enough to see, touch, hold onto and never let go.

If this was what it meant to surrender a heart, surrender a life to someone else then he could only be grateful to the universe that he had stopped fighting. If this was his forever then he was relieved that he had finally lost himself to it.

 

_Bruce smiled at Tony as he turned to face him and Tony smiled back; it was that bright and warm and ridiculously expensive smile that for all its worth was priceless because it lit his eyes and was the one that Bruce had learned was meant for him. Jennifer was just behind him and he just barely registered the proud and approving smile on Rhodey's face, but in his defense it was hard to register much of anything other than the man standing in slate gray and blue and very clearly just as anxious to make this promise as he was._

_He only spared a small glance at Bear who sat in the aisle next to Clint, wearing a green bow tie and specially made dog tux in the same slate gray as his and Tony's. Tony followed his gaze and when their eyes met again they smiled wider in sync. Everything was perfect.  
_

_"Bruce and Tony have elected to write their own vows and will share these at this time."  
_

_He and Tony finally took each others' hands. Bruce felt his heart skip a beat. He was going to go first because he could never make it through hearing Tony's vows and then give his own. He was so overwhelmed with happy emotion that he could barely find his voice to speak at all._

_Still he took a deep breath and kept his eyes locked on Tony's reassuring gaze. It was no less intense and caring than it had been for a total stranger in a lab a lifetime before, but now it was mingled with clear love. It was only him and Tony. It had always been only him and Tony as wonderfully strange as that seemed.  
_

_"Tony, I never once expected my life to end up here standing in front of you. When I was a boy reading scientific journals under the covers with a flashlight, I never once thought I would grow up to have the boy genius on the cover of some of those journals look at me the way you're looking at me now. Of all the twists and turns my life has taken, you by far are the best surprise, the one thing I could have never predicted. All of my lows have led to this high. All of my fear and anger has led to this joy. Your friendship rescued me and your love saved me. No suit of armor was even needed because it was the heart underneath that broke through my darkness. I want to share with you the rest of my life. I want to share the good and the bad. I want to share the highs and the lows. I want to share the battles whether they be the literal kind with our team or the emotional kind that I can only survive with you by my side. I want to share whatever future your hands can build and I promise to use my own hands to help build with you and never break. I want to share all of the things there are to share with you if you will have me."_

_"I will," Tony said and squeezed his hands in union with that promise._

_Bruce could see the sparkle of tears in Tony's eyes that matched his own and held his breath in anticipation of Tony's vows._

_"Bruce, much of my life has been an empty shell waiting to be filled with your love. I wanted to create a light for the world in an attempt to escape my own darkness, but that light was too dim on its own. From the moment I met you, the light of my life, my heart must have known it needed you to beat stronger and shine brighter. The world knows that the Hulk saved me from death, but it was you who saved my life. When everyone else saw a genius, a philanthropist, an innovator, a billionaire, a playboy, a loose cannon, and a weapon, you saw a man – broken and lonely but somehow still worth loving. When others saw nothing, you saw everything so I want to spend the rest of my life sharing that everything with you. I can't promise it'll be easy. I can't promise I'll be perfect. I can't promise there won't be days we both lose sight of what's most important. But I can promise I'll never stop loving you. I can promise to fight alongside you. I can promise to always fight for you. And I can promise to always fight for us. I can promise to work with you to build a future that looks better than our pasts if you will let me."_

_Bruce swallowed the knot in his throat and smiled softly. "I will."_

Every time Tony tried to close his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not when Bruce's smile widened every now and then in his sleep. Not when there was a warm, tropical breeze from the screened in veranda and the sound of a sleepy, pre-dawn island just beyond. Not when Bruce sometimes clutched at him as if trying to bring their bodies closer together upon instinct.

He couldn't bring himself to miss this no matter how beautiful his dreams had been before waking. They had been dreams of Bruce, of course. They had been scattered dreams of them together.

When he first began to drift to sleep and see visions in his head, it had been a blissful and fuzzy memory of their slow and sensual lovemaking. His dreams were still basking in the after glow of skin against skin as they touched and tasted and moved in a perfect rhythm for the first time as husbands. 

When he drifted deeper into his dreams, there had been bits and pieces of their wedding. They had been standing in front of the altar although it had felt like they were standing alone on top of the world. And though Bruce was undoubtedly gorgeous in his tux of slate gray and purple all Tony could focus on was brown eyes, a perfect smile, and the hands that felt so perfect held in his own, hands he could go on holding forever.

Then there had even been a dream that was so simple and yet just as beautiful as the others. He and Bruce and Bear were in their new home at the Avengers Mansion. Tony had come into their home to find Bruce fallen asleep on the couch. His eye glasses were askew and some book or another was open against the floor, his right hand hung off the couch and hovering above it, where it had clearly been dropped when he'd nodded off. And Bear, getting nearly as long as they were tall, was practically a blanket across the physicist whose left hand was buried in the fur like he'd fallen asleep petting their dog as well. The scene had felt so warm and right that it was as if he had needed to wake up right then and there to make certain it wasn't all just a dream, that Bruce was really real and really his.

So now he couldn't help but keep his eyes open and continue to watch his husband in lieu of sleep. He smiled as the memories of his dreams mingled with the reality in front of him. It still felt like a dream, only better.

 

_"Tony and Bruce will now exchange the rings that will serve as a physical expression of an unending promise to give and to receive as equal partners. These rings were painstakingly engineered by Tony himself as a symbol of the bond that he wishes to share with Bruce and each ring contains an inscription, one in blue and the other in purple and each with the same message of love. Those words are My Forever. When Tony looks at his ring it will be a reminder that Bruce gave it to him with the promise to be his forever. When Bruce looks at his ring it will be a reminder that Tony gave it to him with the promise to be his forever. Now let the grooms take their rings to give to one another."_

_Bruce and Tony moved their heads in unison to where Clint carefully held out a pillow with two rings on it and, on command, Bear carefully secured the pillow in between his teeth. Bear then slowly crossed the short distance from the first row to the altar, bringing the rings to them. There were, of course, chuckles and 'awws' from the guests. Bruce and Tony shared a quick smile at the trick that they had all worked tirelessly to teach him over the past month, after Clint had suggested it. They both patted Bear on the head before taking their rings from the pillow. Bear then immediately set the pillow down on the ground and sat in place as he'd been trained to do._

_"Now please place the ring you have for your beloved on the ring finger of his left hand and repeat after me this vow."_

_They took turns slipping the rings into place on the other man's hand, Tony receiving from him the silver band with My Forever inscribed in purple and he receiving from Tony a specially engineered silver band with My Forever inscribed in blue. Then, they repeated the words of the vow they had written together for the exchanging of the rings, speaking to one another as their eyes remained intently locked._

_"I give you this ring as a symbol of my promise. You will be my husband and I will be yours. I will strive each day to be the man you need me to be. I was lost until you found me. I was lonely until you loved me. You are my dearest friend. You are my truest love. You are my forever."_

_"By the powers vested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband."_

_Kiss they did, as their friends cheered or dried their eyes, and Bruce thought it felt like the very first time._

 

Tony couldn't resist carefully pulling Bruce closer the next time the other man attempted to move closer subconsciously. They were so close now that he could feel the rhythm of his heart. Bruce still looked happier perhaps than he had ever seen him before and Tony couldn't help himself any longer. He had to touch him.

His fingers gently traced the slope of Bruce's neck and over the curve of his shoulder. He then let his fingers ghost down the length Bruce's arm before coming back up to play with the hair stuck to his temple, both from the humidity and their earlier passion.

Bruce gave a content sigh and Tony couldn't help but answer it with a brush of lips against the corner of one closed eye. All the while he wondered if Bruce's dreams were pleasant and like his own had been. He had to wonder if Bruce was dreaming of him, dreaming of them, even as his heart told him that he was.

Tony wasn't sure what he had done to deserve this, to deserve the man asleep in his arms, but he was thankful for the privilege. "I promise I won't waste it," he whispered so low that he wasn't even sure he had actually spoken.

 

_The reception was kept simple since it was a small affair and on the same property. Peter took photos of them, Rhodey and Jennifer as well as the team even though they weren't a part of the official wedding party. The other guests meanwhile began to eat dinner in the reception area before they joined them._

_There were some traditional elements they had decided to keep when planning. The cake cutting, of course, was one of them. Tony just couldn't pass up the chance to feed Bruce cake, attempt to suck Bruce's fingers lewdly when he was fed cake in turn, and then kiss Bruce senseless – which is exactly what he did although Bruce liked to think he was kissing Tony senseless right back. And Bruce had added to the moment, much to his husband's surprise, by grabbing one of the blueberry garnishes and offering it to Tony playfully._

_After that, the dessert bar was opened and the two men took that time to mingle with the guests and accept well wishes and toasts as they came. Pepper hugged Bruce close and thanked him for coming along before giving him a chaste kiss. He would have maybe been more embarrassed if not for the fact Jennifer shared a similar sentiment with Tony. Rhodey pulled him aside and gave him the proverbial last minute shovel talk as a joke and he got the impression the rest of the team might have given the same to Tony as odd as it seemed. Even Reed said some very thoughtful words and Tony accepted them graciously. All the while Peter trailed close behind taking so many photos that Bruce briefly wondered if it would take the rest of their collective lives just to look through them all. Then he smiled because at least they would never be short on memories of the occasion as the entire wedding ceremony and reception was already being recorded as well by cameras Tony had rigged up and linked directly to JARVIS for archival._

_Finally came the general partying which they started off with a traditional first dance. Tony, of course, was openly enthusiastic about the idea. Bruce wasn't openly enthusiastic perhaps, but he had to admit there was a certain kind of thrill to dancing with Tony for the first time as his husband, audience or no. Actually, the audience might as well have been nonexistent as far as Bruce was concerned because swaying with Tony to the overly romantic ballad they had selected was like being in a bubble. The love between them as they danced enveloped them close._

_"I love you," Tony whispered against his ear as the song neared its end. "I'm certain I've loved you from the moment we shook hands. I never wanted to let go."_

_Bruce pulled back and smiled tenderly at him. "Now you don't have to," he whispered in return before their lips met again in a gentle dance set to the closing notes of the song._

 

Tony smiled as Bruce began to slowly stir, no doubt from the gentle circles Tony had been absently rubbing against his skin.

"Is it morning?" Bruce asked. His voice was a rough whisper and he sounded like he was still far away in a dream.

"Not quite," Tony answered softly.

Bruce opened his eyes and craned his neck a little to look at him. "Couldn't sleep?"

Tony's smile widened. "Something like that," he said. "I woke up from a dream about us."

"A good dream I hope," Bruce said, blinking a few times and running a hand up Tony's chest.

"Very good dream," Tony replied before moving his own hand to splay around the crook of Bruce's neck. "Only it wasn't as good as reality so I didn't feel like going back. Incidentally, did you know you've been smiling in your sleep?"

Bruce smiled at that and Tony finally took his chance. He smoothed a thumb along Bruce's lips, from one upward curve to the other, before letting his own lips memorize that smile. Bruce responded lazily to the kiss and let out another content sigh when they parted. It was a sound Tony would never get tired of hearing.

"I was dreaming about our wedding," Bruce said finally.

"Sorry I woke you," Tony said earnestly even as one hand caressed a sensual line down to Bruce's hip.

Bruce smiled. "It's okay." He looked at Tony earnestly. "It wasn't as good as reality either."

Within seconds their eyes were closed and their limbs entangled fully again as if of their own accord. Skin pressed against skin once more as their lips collided.

" _Bruce_ ," Tony whispered his husband's name like a prayer that the moment would never end.

"I love you, Tony." Bruce sounded just as desperate for that prayer to come true. "Forever," he breathed and Tony swallowed that breath like he needed it to live.

"Forever," Tony promised and knew he meant it.

This was only the beginning of the rest of their lives, caught in an endless circle of sweet surrender to one another. This was a glimpse of their forever and it was already beautiful.


End file.
